The one-day process of The 24 Hour Plays begins at 9 PM the night prior to the performance. The group of theatre, film and television artists, which includes playwrights, directors, actors and designers, meet and are briefed on the upcoming 24 hours. The writers are then left to create a ten-minute play overnight. In the morning, the directors read the scripts and then the actors are called for 8 AM. Everyone rehearses throughout the day. Doors open at 7:45 PM, and curtain rises at 8 PM and there it is: six shows, all in a day’s work.

Over 100 writers and 1,000 actors have helped create 300 new short plays since the inception of The 24 Hour Plays in 1995. Over its ten year history, The 24 Hour Plays have partnered with numerous charities and theatre companies to use the event as a way to raise funds. The 24 Hour Company has also been developing a replication program for student, professional and amateur groups based on their successful formula. Lindsay Bowen, Kurt Gardner, Philip Naude, and “The 24 Hour Plays” creator Tina Fallon are the producing team.

At Play, the presenting theater company, is a group of emerging artists that were brought together as part of Old Vic New Voices under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey. In 2008, At Play put on The 24 Hour Plays at the Atlantic Theatre as their inaugural event. This debut performance featured a collaboration with such guest artists as Ethan Hawke, Peter Dinklage, and Jonathan Marc Sherman. At Play was named the resident company of The 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway and was also welcomed into The Exchange, an Off-Broadway company that fosters the creative development of emerging artists.

At Play will next be presenting Al’s Business Cards, a comedy by Josh Koenigsberg, at the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row from July 31-August 22, 2009.
Tickets to the event at the Atlantic Theater, 48 W. 20th St., are on sale by calling (212) 868-4444 or visiting www.smarttix.com. For more information on the show and the company, please visit www.atplayproductions.com.